McCarthy appears to admit dozens of GOP lawmakers aren't vaccinated as he fights mask rule

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday railed against the new mask rule from Congress’ attending physician,  Dr. Brian Monahan, who on Tuesday ordered that all members of the House — vaccinated or not — return to wearing a “well-fitted, medical grade, filtration face mask” while at the Capitol complex.

In the process, McCarthy (R-CA) appeared to admit that roughly one-third of the Republicans in his conference have not gotten a COVID-19 vaccine.

“The vaccination rate for the members of Congress is over 85%,” McCarthy said in an angry rant on the House floor Tuesday afternoon. “And as of today, the transmission rate on the Capitol campus is less than 1%. The facts would tell us this isn’t a hot spot. So the CDC recommendation doesn’t apply to us.”

If McCarthy’s estimation is correct, that means roughly 15% of members of Congress are not vaccinated.

Careful observers on Twitter jumped on McCarthy’s comment.

Kristin Wilson, a reporter for CNN, wrote: “roughly 15% of the House isn’t vaccinated, and we know all the Democrats are.That’s 65 Republicans, give or take.”

If you do that math, 15% of the House amounts to around 65 members. Given that every congressional Democrat in both the House and Senate has said they have been vaccinated, that means those 65 members are Republicans. That means nearly one-third, or around 30%, of the 211-member House Republican Conference is not vaccinated.

“Kevin McCarthy has some real gall screaming at us about masks if it is true that 65 of his own Members are still refusing to get vaccinated. That’s a third of his conference,” Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA).

The announcement that masks are once again required on Capitol Hill sent Republicans like McCarthy into a tailspin. He’s blaming the updated guidance on “liberal government officials” without mentioning his own members who have refused a vaccination.